ORDINANCE MAY BE CHANGED TO OUTLAW DOGS' USING YARDS

What do you do when your neighbor's dog or cat insists on using your yard as the communal doggie or kitty commode?

Right now, not much. In fact, about all that can be done is the owner can be issued a dog-at-large summons by an animal control officer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

One Cape Girardeau resident, who did not wish to be named, faced this same situation early this year when a neighbor's dog began defecating regularly in his yard.

Every morning the neighbor across the street would let his dog out; it would make a B-line for the man's yard and do his daily business. The dog would then trot back across the street to his home to be let back inside.

"Normally, it wouldn't bother me," the man said. "I have a dog, but he stays in the back yard and I clean up after him.

"But once a dog finds his spot, he comes back to it again and again, and there's no stopping it especially if his owner won't keep him on a leash," he said.

So, being on previously friendly terms with his neighbor, the man decided to head across the street and talk about the matter.

"All the sudden, we weren't friends anymore," the man said. "He insisted that it wasn't his dog's (droppings) in my yard; it had to be someone else's."

At one point, to prove that the dog was actually doing a number on the man's yard, he collected the sample when the dog was finished and took it to the neighbor.

When the dog's owner again denied that the droppings were his, the man warned his neighbor if the attacks on his greenery continued, he would notify authorities.

"My son and I play ball in the front yard," the man said. "I don't want to be stepping in that stuff; neither does my son."

The man made good on his promise. When the family was away on vacation their teenage son was left at home to watch the house and the dog. The dog did a number in the man's front yard, and he called the police. An animal control officer was dispatched and the teenager was issued a summons.

"I didn't want to have to do it, but this just had to end," the man said.

Lt. Dale Ratliff of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said that although no specific instances of dogs "leaving a trace of their presence" behind in other people's yards have been reported, animal control officers do regularly respond to dog at large calls.

"Animals are to be kept on a leash when they are not on the owner's property," said Ratliff. "If they are not, that person is in violation."

Fines for dog at large summonses start at $35. If the person has more than one offense, the municipal judge will set the fine when the person appears in court.

Ratliff said he and representatives of the Southeast Missouri Humane Society are currently working to revise animal control ordinances to meet local needs and modern standards.

"In New York City, owners are responsible for cleaning up after their dogs all the time," Ratliff said.

There is currently no such ordinance in the Cape Girardeau.

As for the man his neighbor moved, and took the dog with him.